1 Corinthians 4: 1 This, then, is how you ought to regard us: as servants of Christ and as those entrusted with the mysteries God has revealed. 2 Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful. 3 I care very little if I am judged by you or by any human court; indeed, I do not even judge myself. 4 My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me. 5 Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait until the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of the heart. At that time each will receive their praise from God.
Today we look at the words of St. Paul in his first letter to the church in Corinth. He is defending the true nature and faith of the Apostle. He tells the folks in Corinth that he, Apollos and Cephas are not leaders of parties, but are servants. He also states that they are "stewards of the mysteries God has revealed" and are REQUIRED to be faithful with these. He indicates that we who have been given this trust will be judged in three ways. 1)in the court of public opinion, by the human courts or by votes in the assembly. It disturbs me that in many congregations and among many Christians they think that that if a congregation votes to do something this is equal to Scripture and thus is legitimate even though it is out of line with Holy Scripture. This is what caused the Lutheran Church I grew up in to adopt un-biblical ideas about the roles of men and women, approve of acts of homosexuality, becoming so politically correct that they have become totally irrelevant. The saying that comes to mind is: "if you stand for nothing, you fall for everything." St. Paul says he will not be judged by the congregation in Corinth or by human opinion or courts. 2) The second "court" is our conscience, St. Paul says his conscience is clear. 3) The third "court" is the righteous and holy Court of our God! This is the final judgment and therefore we who are saved by grace through faith have nothing to "fear", but we should have a sense of "awe" and "reverence" in the fact that we are going to stand before the God of the universe and He will "bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of the heart!" I think we are called to think about the fact that Christ may return at any moment and we will be called to account. I truly believe we are saved by grace and as we live out our lives we are to remember to whom we belong. Jesus in the Gospel lesson from Matthew 6:33 in the Sermon on the Mount says: "But seek first His Kingdom and HIS Righteousness and all these things will be given to you as well!" I saw a survey this week that said "Born Again Evangelical Christians" have a higher divorce rate than atheists, 27%-21%. (probably because Atheists don't get married) 35% don't tell the truth on a regular basis etc.. from Wallbuilders Ministry. I am not saying that we are saved by works but the public is watching us and we do have a responsibility to be found faithful. The Lord tells us NOT to worry but to live out our faith and show forth His love and power and we will not fear the truth of His promise to expose the motives of the heart. For in Christ these will be forgiven and are true! I think there is tremendous freedom in knowing that the Lord, our loving savior will be our judge and that He is faithful and true! We should have great JOY as we move forward into a world that fears the public opinion rather than the final judgment, that the Lord has chosen us to be HIS body during these trying days with much trouble! I look at the way things are going in the world with teachers getting sick leaves excuses from doctors on the street corner in Madison, WI, not to be home sick, but to protest? These are the people who teach our children and next generation?! Their union president did not have a problem with this??? Deception and lies! I would be fearful of the "exposing of the motives of the heart." We know that with the Middle East in flames and the Radical Islamists working behind the scenes it would seem that the things are out of control?! Yet we take great JOY and PEACE in Jesus' Words in Matthew 6 and "do not worry about tomorrow!"
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